This initiative aims at creating and promoting spaces of encounter and constructive talks at national and regional levels between civil society from the Southern Neighbourhood region and the European Union, taking over the EU’s efforts over the past years to promote and structure such an exchange through an interinstitutional approach.

The first edition of the Brussels Civil Forum will offer a space of exchanges between CSOs, experts, local authorities, and EU representatives. It will follow up on the outputs of the Neighbourhood South Seminar and the Youth Workshop that took place in Amman earlier in September 2018, and which gathered CSOs, youth organisations, activists, social movements and trade unions from the Southern Neighbourhood region.

CEDEFOP Working group on “Learning providers and Migration: Empowerment and Integration through Learning” (20-21 Nov, The Netherlands)

The working groups composed of experts reunite to look into practical guidance for practitioners, identifies good practices and makes use of European activities and results.

The main topics that can be used for communication

Focus on the “newly arrived third-country migrants /refugees” with a formal status in the EU

INCLUS final conference - “Empowering and validating skills of young migrants and refugees to promote integration in society and labour market” (22nd November)

The project INCLUS “Europe for the integration of young migrants and refugees” aims to support youth associations to better understand the obstacles to inclusion in society and to integration in the labour market of young migrants and refugee as well as to empower directly young migrants and refugees to take part in youth associations through the use of non-formal and informal learning methods and training tools.

One of the main innovative aspects of the project is the cross-sectoral supporting structure called the ‘Innovative Inclusive Committee’ composed of representatives of youth associations, trade-unions, employment services, policy makers, EU policy experts and young migrants and refugees.

PROMO Final Conference (20-21st November)

PROMO stands for ‘Protecting Mobility through Improving Labour Rights Enforcement in Europe’ and aims to enhance cooperation and information sharing between relevant stakeholders engaged with the posting of workers. The aim of this PROMO final conference is to wrap up this project encouraging discussion, strategies and dissemination of good practices for the protection of posted workers. The second day of the conference will be used for the presentation of the project findings, results and recommendations.

The unsustainable burden of inequalities – How the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights can lead to the achievement of the Agenda 2030

One year after the proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, we are drawing together high-level speakers to discuss how this potentially crucial instrument can be better implemented in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals as to become the landmark for future European policies.

The conference also aims at perfecting our upcoming tool Social Rights Monitor, to be released in 2019 to analyse 16 European countries social rights advancement and whose elaboration and implementation is supported by the Employment and Social Innovation funded programme of the European Commission.

Indeed, the current and longstanding lack of social investments is becoming as unsustainable for European social cohesion as the current production model is for our planet. Today, income inequalities are higher in the EU than in the US, the top 5% wealthiest Europeans owning almost 40% of reunitetotal private wealth. Moreover, upward intergenerational social mobility in the EU is decreasing, and working-competencies are up to 10% of the European Labour force. These data are only the tip of the iceberg, of course. Still, it should be enough to make the case for immediate, sound and robust social investment in Europe.

In this framework, SOLIDAR believes that sustainability is the key word for any forward looking agenda aiming at enabling the conditions for a stronger, united and collective Europe at the service of a fairer, cleaner, more just world.

SHARE- Towards Shared Interest Between Migrants and local Workers

Central and Southern European countries have faced growing labour migration from both EU and non-EU countries. Mostly welcome by employers and some politicians, it has remained controversial for parts of general public due to perceptions of competition in the labour market and local reactions in places of concentration of migrant workers. This project responds to these conflicting economic, political and social interests by engaging a discussion with the European local publics. In the context of flexibilisation and precarisation of employment, migrant workers begin to share manifold aspects of their situation with host country domestic labour force. Yet, the solidarity of migrant and domestic is constrained by negative stereotypes and the lack of common platforms of sharing experiences. This project suggests that such a platform can be created taking a labour rights perspective.

Education Re-Thought Workshop (22-23rd November)

Pushing the development of new ways of educating based on the existing best practice.

SOLIDAR Foundation and our member ARCI Liguria will present idea for a project based on ongoing practice in integration of migrants in Italy.

The main topics of the project:

Young people, whatever country they come from, have a natural capacity for integration. Thus, they can be easily absorbed by the European labour market.

Working opportunity that develops personal abilities is the best way to integrate in the European society and to protect against social exclusion.

Mobilizing for Social Justice in the MENA region (22-23 November)

This EU-funded project started in 2015 and aimed to strengthen and promote CSOs, social movements and independent trade unions’ role in reforms and democratic change in the area of decent work, social protection and freedom of association. After four years of activities, our members and partners from seven different countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine) will be brought together to exchange, advocate and evaluate the project.